When Nicklas Backstrommade his debut for Dynamo Moscow Monday, he was surrounded by familiar faces. Alex Ovechkin flanked him at left wing on the first line and former teammate Semyon Varlamov was in net for Lokomotiv. Dynamo had no trouble getting over that potential awkwardness however, turning in one of their most solid wins on the year, a 3-0 shutout of Lokomotiv. Ovechkin, who sure was in a punchy mood that day, had a goal and an assist. Backstrom also contributed a helper.

For more than half of my life, October has signaled the beginning of two things: the NHL regular season and the deranged glee of driving my car through piles of neighbors’ leaves arranged in neat pyramids in the street. Since the NHL owners and players cannot seem to master the art of sharing the rest of us learned in kindergarten, my bloodlust for foliage is the only thing getting me through these days.

So we’re in a weird spot. As hockey fans, that extra cash we set aside for Caps games, beers, and foam fingers is still in our pockets. This cannot stand; we must spend it on something. The RMNB inbox has swelled with a hundred different iterations of the same question: Where can I buy a Dynamo Moscow KHL jersey of Nick Backstrom or Alex Ovechkin? How about Traktor Chelyabinsk’s Evgeny Kuznetsov?